Emanuel offers preview of Democratic National Convention speech

August 21, 2012|By John Byrne | Clout Street

Mayor Rahm Emanuel goes from table to table shaking hands with pastors at an interfaith Back to School breakfast, also attended by Jean-Claude Brizard, CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, at the Greater Harvest Church in Chicago. (Nancy Stone, Chicago Tribune)

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday offered a preview of the theme of his speech at the Democratic National Convention next month: his insider’s view of the moves President Barack Obama made after taking office.

“I'm going to testify to what I saw in that Oval Office: A man of courage, a man of conviction and a man of vision,” said Emanuel, who served as the president's first chief of staff.

The mayor, tapped as a speaker at the political pep rally which takes place Sept. 4-6 in Charlotte, N.C., said he will talk about how Obama relied on his values when faced with a series of big decisions early in his administration.

“I've seen President Obama up close in some of the most difficult circumstances any individual faced,” Emanuel said when asked about his upcoming speech. “On day one, the financial industry had froze up, the auto industry was on its back and the economy was in a free fall. And I saw a man — with no blueprint on how to handle this — I saw a man who remembered the middle class values he leaned on and the middle class voices he heard and needed to work for.”

Emanuel said he will highlight Obama's decision to bail out sectors of the American auto industry as an instance the president bucked conventional wisdom “when everybody said that's good money after bad.”

The auto bailout “would have been worth a full term on its own, stand-alone,” Emanuel said, but noted that Obama also wound down the war in Iraq and pushed to get banks back to lending money to homeowners, small businesses and students.

Emanuel’s remarks came during an appearance at Malcolm X College where he announced the University of Illinois at Chicago will set aside 50 spots annually for City Colleges of Chicago students to transfer in to its online College of Nursing. It's part of the mayor's ongoing effort to link Malcolm X to the healthcare jobs that abound close to the school's Near West Side campus.

The mayor also talked about negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union, which has announced informational picketing and is taking steps to prepare for a possible strike. Emanuel said he remains focused on the contract discussions. “I've been through my fair share of negotiations, and I understand the difference between public comments and the focus,” Emanuel said.

The mayor is scheduled to speak on Tuesday during the convention week, a Democratic source said.